Every Wednesday at camp we have Dance Night, and after the dance we have our weekly counselor meeting.

We do shout-outs, announcements, and training reminders. We hand out awards (counselor of the week is a big one). A director shares words of encouragement.

Last week, right at the end, we did one additional thing.

Several weeks ago during staff training, every staff member wrote a letter addressed to their future self. They sealed it in an envelope, handed it in, and hadn’t seen it since.

Last Wednesday, we gave it back to them.

“This is for you,” I told them. “Nobody has read it. Nobody has looked at it. It’s just you from six weeks ago, talking to you right now.”

Energy Plus Intention

Being a great camp counselor is largely energy plus intention.

Energy is usually easy to find in young adults. Intention is the rare part. When you get both in the same person, that’s where the magic is.

You’ve seen the energy the staff pour into camp through the photos and videos we share.

They’re the ones leading every activity, singing every song, running around non-stop, and handling with everything that comes up.

The letters I mentioned are one way we build the intention.

In training, we ask every counselor to picture the best version of themselves for the summer, the role model they want to be, and put it in writing. Their words, their (sometimes rough) handwriting. Then we seal it up and wait.

What They Wrote

I asked a few of them if I could share what they’d written to themselves. Here a few quotes:

“I hope that you have become a more confident leader, and you are helping the people around you be at their best.”

“You have been an amazing role model this summer and showed people why you keep coming back to your favorite place.”

“I am proud of you because you have taken risks, faced your fears, and put others first. Make sure to keep smiling and believe in your ability to succeed.”

Notice the “you.”

You have become a more confident leader. You have been an amazing role model. You have taken risks. They wrote to themselves the way a good coach talks to a player.

There’s research that says doing exactly that, coaching yourself in the second person, changes how you show up. And we want to use every little trick to make sure they are showing up as their best selves.

Why We Waited

We could have handed the letters back during the first week, but there’s a reason that we wait.

On day one, a letter like that is a wish, but by week six, it’s a receipt.

By now, these staff have talked a homesick camper through a rough night. They’ve led an activity they hadn’t previously taught before. They’ve been the reason a specific camper had the best day of their week and summer.

So when a staff member reads “you have taken risks and faced your fears,” the proof is already in their hands. That’s the boost we were after: look who you already are, now go do it again for the second half.

Camp days are long. We ask counselors to get up early, stay up late, and keep their energy high throughout the day. Some of them didn’t know if they could keep it up all summer.

But seeing a reminder of why they’re here, in their own handwriting, hits a little different when they’ve already proven to themselves that they can do it.

Good Hands

These counselors at camp aren’t your average 18-22 year olds.

They’ve already opted in to being outside, giving up their phones, and being a part of something bigger than themselves this summer.

On top of that, we ask them to be fully engaged 12+ hours each day. It takes a little getting used to during staff training, but they learn they have the energy to do it.

And then we add the vision of what it looks like to show up at your best and make a difference for someone else. They decide who they want to be, write it down, and hold themselves to it.

So when your camper runs up to their counselor on Closing Day and doesn’t want to let go, you’ll know the backstory.

Somebody decided, back in May, exactly who they were going to be. They wrote it down. Then they went and became that person.

Your campers are in good hands.

Erec Sir